Urbane celebrates 1 year

Local hip-hop group nwest8 opens anniversary party today

Local hip-hop group nwest8 took some time off from performing and will return to the local music scene with an opening set for Urbane's one-year anniversary party at 9 p.m. today at Ghost Ranch Saloon. Pictured, from left, are Matt Weber, Cody Perry and Chris Stoger.

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Steamboat Springs  Cousins Matthew Weber and Christopher Stoger played in rock bands for years, until one day they decided to buy a beat machine.

Stoger adopted the stage name “Onelost” for his emceeing, and Weber started performing as “Cubix.” They’ve recorded two albums since making the jump to hip-hop about five years ago and will be the opening act for Urbane clothing store’s one-year anniversary celebration today at Ghost Ranch Saloon.

Weber, Stoger and Cody Perry, performing as nwest8, take the stage at about 9 p.m. The group, which has other occasional contributors, played shows at the Depot Art Center, Steamboat Ski Area and Rio Grande Mexican Restaurant before taking a hiatus for a few years.

The sound is along the same laidback, acoustic hip-hop lines as Atmosphere, Citizen Cope or Black Eyed Peas, Weber said. It’s a product that comes from fusing a rock background with positively focused, conscious hip-hop, he said.

“We realized we had been doing stuff to that nature for years. So we just started to mold our style more around the acoustic sound since it was catching on in the industry. … We try to approach hip-hop in a more musical aspect. Whereas most people are cutting up samples and trying to be the next big T-Pain song, we try to look at things as having more guitar parts and string parts,” Weber said.

Weber and Stoger play all the instruments on their recordings and likely will perform over recorded tracks for tonight’s set, Weber said.

Trent Kolste, co-owner of Urbane clothing store, said he wanted to continue the store’s involvement with local artists for its one-year celebration. Salt Lake City-based live hip-hop band Scenic Byway headlines the party; that group did an event for Urbane earlier in the year, Kolste said. Scenic Byway also plays a free show Saturday at The Boathouse Pub.

“We’re just trying to get involved in the community as much as we can. So we have a couple of rail jams planned for the winter and, of course, our art shows. … We’re just trying to get in where we can in the community and help people out,” Kolste said.

Urbane opened Nov. 27, 2008, aiming to hit a section of the Steamboat Springs clothing market the owners thought wasn’t being served. The store displays new work by a different visual artist each month and puts on quarterly “call for artists” shows open to anyone. Additional community events have included a fashion show, a snowboard video premiere and a skateboarding rail jam. The store is at 703 Lincoln Ave., Suite B101.